Rumors are swirling that Twitter is going to shut down due to the censorship rules that the government is placing on them.

Rumors are swirling that Twitter is going to shut down due to the censorship rules that governments are placing on them.

Twitter has announced plans to censor Tweets according to the laws in each user’s country, which it says will allow it respect “different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression.”

Users have reacted angrily to the restrictions, which they say amount to censorship. As a result, rumors are spreading that Twitter will shut down on May 1st.

The official Twitter blog announced the censorship rules in a post called “Tweets Still Must Flow”. That’s when the Twitter anger exploded. Users are not happy with this and are vowing to abandon the service.

Twitter reportedly hopes that by announcing a shut down date, it will give governments time to come up with a solution that will allow freedom to once again reign on Twitter.

Twitter cited the example of France and Germany, where pro-Nazi statements are banned. Until now, the post said, Twitter was obliged to delete content that broke those laws on a global basis, so it would not be visible anywhere – even in countries where it was legal.

Content will be blocked in response to “a valid and properly scoped request from an authorized entity,” Twitter said on its support page.

When a Tweet is censored, a notice will appear reading: “This Tweet from @Username has been withheld in: Country.” Twitter also said it would collaborate with Chilling Effects, an independent online rights monitor, to make all of its take-down notices public.

Twitter Freedom Fighters are vowing to take on ALL governments and try to keep Twitter open.

This all began with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), which made governments around the world believe that they can start regulating (controlling) the internet. The Obama Administration is the strongest proponent of internet censorship.

“We believe that the President of the United States should be able to control the internet, both here and around the world,” said one White House insider. “The President knows what is best for all citizens on earth.”

“That’s just silly,” Twitter CEO Dick Costolo tweeted in response to the reports about Twitter shutting down, but sources close to people inside Twitter say that on May 1st, Twitter will be… done. The Twitter King is not happy about it:

“Until governments agree to keep their hands off the internet and Twitter, we will go dark,” said a source close to someone at Twitter.

Get your last Tweets in… at least they got their star on Hollywood Boulevard.